I used to hear that a clean installation will help eradicate problem. I'm a noob and first time doing upgrade. What you mean clean installation. Would appreciate some easy step and guidance.

Secondly, what OS version shld I upgrade? I think I will refrain leaping to El Capitan as I understand there's still some bugs issue. Jumping to Yosemite is already a big leap and I'm considering that. Is that a good upgrade or you guys think a lower OS is better?

a "clean install" on a mac is an install where you format the harddrive first and then install a osx from a usb-stick. just google how to do it. after you've made that install, don't restore your "system" from your time-machine backup - just your data (home directory). i'd also recommemd that you don't have your apps restored - make a new install of them as well, if possible. so you get a "clean" system, without all the "bloat" that might have been installed on your system over the years and multiple OS updates.

what type of computer have you got, exactly? on my 2009 13" mbp (2.53ghz, 8gb ram), el capitan is running faster than yosemite (did a clean install on yosemite, update with el cap)

Wow. Can't believe you haven't upgraded the OS in that machine. I'm running El Cap on my 2009 iMac just fine. I don't know if you can even upgrade to Yosemite now. Where would you get the file? It's not on the App Store anymore. Just upgrade to El Cap. Your Mac has plenty of life left in it.

I have some bad news about your upgrade options. Mavericks (10.9) and Yosemite (10.10) are no longer available for download from the App Store unless you previously downloaded them. Apple removed Mavericks from the App Store when Yosemite was released. Yosemite was removed when El Capitan was released. You might be able to get Yosemite from an Apple Store, but I would call them first to see. As dangerfish said, you may need to go directly to El Capitan.

The reason i didn't upgrade was I wanted to avoid the "slow" syndrome that I so often read. Also, i don't really need the latest geek. Well more to that, one of the very important program I often used is not compatible with newer OS. But now after 4 yrs, I'm prepare to purchase newer version for that program.

I'm not a tech geek. To do a clean install may seems complex for me to execute. Prob just do an upgrade and hope nothing happens.

Assuming everything is working fine I don't see why you should rush with upgrade.

Like others have said you have limited options unless you have a friend who can provide you with a Mavericks or Yosemite.

Your Mac will support 10.11 El Capitan but I doubt it will be as fast as it is with Snow Leopard. 10.7-10.11 have lots of features that add more demands for Processor, RAM and Graphics card. I am not saying it will be too slow to use but its possible your experience will be more like walking instead of running.

I recommend you wait several months until most of the bugs in 10.11 have been fixed. Its possible they might not effect you but why take changes?

Another option is to keep using 10.6, it won't get any security updates but odds are low that you would run into any problems assuming you use your head while online.

For the record in my opinion Snow Leopard is the best OS X version Apple has released and I would still use it if it supported applications that I need. I am not impressed with Yosemite or El Capitan because they are taking OS X too far into iOS side.

Assuming everything is working fine I don't see why you should rush with upgrade.

Like others have said you have limited options unless you have a friend who can provide you with a Mavericks or Yosemite.

Your Mac will support 10.11 El Capitan but I doubt it will be as fast as it is with Snow Leopard. 10.7-10.11 have lots of features that add more demands for Processor, RAM and Graphics card. I am not saying it will be too slow to use but its possible your experience will be more like walking instead of running.

I recommend you wait several months until most of the bugs in 10.11 have been fixed. Its possible they might not effect you but why take changes?

Another option is to keep using 10.6, it won't get any security updates but odds are low that you would run into any problems assuming you use your head while online.

For the record in my opinion Snow Leopard is the best OS X version Apple has released and I would still use it if it supported applications that I need. I am not impressed with Yosemite or El Capitan because they are taking OS X too far into iOS side.

It can still be found.
Even if you can't get it from Apple, there are "other sources".
It may even be available on a DVD release, if you have a DVD drive.

I would avoid 10.9 "Mavericks" -- I had nothing but trouble with it, and found it very slow on a platter-based hard drive Mac.

I still use 10.6.8 as my "regular OS" on a 2010 MacBook Pro. I upgraded the drive to an SSD, and it boots and runs VERY fast. Yes, it's an older OS, but still does all I need to do on the MacBook.
No need to "update it further" at this time...

I would avoid 10.9 "Mavericks" -- I had nothing but trouble with it, and found it very slow on a platter-based hard drive Mac.

Click to expand...

Interesting how experiences differ.

While 10.9 was slower than 10.6 on my old iMac with hard drive it was very much usable and much more reliable than 10.10 or 10.11. Using 10.10 on that old Mac felt like I was jumping around with one leg. Unfortunately I cannot test 10.11 because iMac broke down months ago but given my experiences with Mac Mini 2014 I doubt it would make much difference...

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